1-54 London returns for its sixth edition at Somerset House between the 4-7 October 2018.

Bringing together a diverse set of perspectives from around the world, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has selected 43 leading galleries from countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

The fair will showcase the work of over 130 emerging and established artists from Africa and its diaspora, working in a wide variety of mediums and welcome 11 new galleries to the London edition for the first time, amongst which, ADN Galeria, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Kristin Hjellegjerde and Yossi Milo Gallery.

Ten solo exhibitions have been announced: Omar Ba (Art Bärtschi & Cie), Marion Boehm (ARTCO Gallery), Atta Kwami (Beardsmore Gallery), Esther Mahlangu (Burning in Water), Wonga Mancoba (Galerie Mikael Anderson), Youssef Nabil (Galerie Nathalie Obadia), Ibrahim Ahmed (Gallery Nosco), Anton Kannemeyer (HUBERTY & BREYNE GALLERY), Ailou Diack ((S)ITOR / Sitor Senghor) and Mongezi Ncaphayi (SMAC Gallery).

The fair will be accompanied by FORUM, the fair’s extensive talks and events programme, including artists talks, film screenings and panel discussions. This new iteration of FORUM will be curated for the first time, by writer and curator Ekow Eshun who takes the motif of Freefall as a point of departure from which to explore black artistic practice as a strategy of innovation, resistance and liberation. With daily sessions between the 4 – 7 October at Somerset House, 1-54 FORUM will bring together artists, curators and scholars to address key questions and topics. All talks are free to attend with a 1-54 ticket. Advance seat reservation is highly recommended, book your seat. Find the full programme  here .

Building on the success of the fair’s expanded programme of non-profit Special Projects, 1-54 will present a number of collateral exhibitions in Somerset House, including Athi-Patra Ruga’s inaugural UK solo exhibition, Of Gods, Rainbows and Omissions, which brings together three bodies of work, presenting a surreal, mythical utopia filled with vibrant characters. Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi will take over the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court at Somerset House with his sculpture Meditation Tree,  and British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong will create an immersive installation that fuses the domestic and the religious, exploring Christianity’s role in colonialism and diasporic communities living in the West. Find more information about the Special Projects here.

EXHIBITING GALLERIES:

50 Golborne (London, United Kingdom)
Addis Fine Art (London, United Kingdom / Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
ADN Galeria (Barcelona, Spain)
AFRONOVA GALLERY (Johannesburg, South Africa)
AGorgi Gallery (Tunis, Tunisia)
Art Bärtschi & Cie (Geneva, Switzerland)
ARTCO Gallery (Aachen, Germany)
ARTLabAfrica (Nairobi, Kenya)
Beardsmore Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Burning in Water (New York / San Francisco, United States)
Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi, Kenya)
Ed Cross Fine Art (London, United Kingdom)
Gallery of African Art (GAFRA) (London, United Kingdom)
Galerie Anne de Villepoix (Paris, France)
Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Dakar, Senegal)
Galerie Mikael Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris, France / Brussels, Belgium)
Gallery 1957 (Accra, Ghana)
Gallery Nosco (Marseille, France)
HUBERTY & BREYNE GALLERY (Paris, France / Brussels, Belgium)
Jack Bell Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
James Cohan (New York, United States)
Kristin Hjellegjerde (London, United Kingdom)
Lawrie Shabibi Gallery (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Loft Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco)
Magnin-A (Paris, France)
Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art (Cairo, Egypt)
MOV’ART Gallery (Luanda, Angola)
October Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Officine Dell’Immagine (Milan, Italy)
Primo Marella Gallery (Milan, Italy)
Retro Africa (Abuja, Nigeria)
Selma Feriani Gallery (Tunis, Tunisia)
(S)ITOR / Sitor Senghor (Paris, France)
SMAC Gallery (Cape Town / Johannesburg, South Africa)
SMO Contemporary Art (Lagos, Nigeria)
Sulger-Buel Lovell (London, United Kingdom)
Tiwani Contemporary (London, United Kingdom)
Tyburn Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
VOICE gallery (Marrakech, Morocco)
Vigo Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town, South Africa)
Yossi Milo Gallery (New York, United States)

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